RIMON – TSBD Joint Seminar: Japan-US Innovation 2025

Japan-US Innovation 2025: Cross Border Innovation, Collaboration and Regulation in the New Trump Era

The new Trump administration promises drastic changes in Gobal trade initiatives which will affect Japanese companies that are working closely with companies in the U.S. and Japanese companies that import products into the U.S.

In this seminar, you will hear from leading authorities in Global Trade and Investment from on the ground corporate lawyers from Washington DC.  We will cover what to expect from the new Trump Administration in 3 key areas:  1. U.S. – Japan cross border trade and tariffs; 2. CFIUS issues; and 3. Intellectual Property and AI.

RIMON Law is one of the leading law firms in the U.S.  It is a tech-enabled, highly selective, global law firm, consistently recognized for its excellence, innovation, and teamwork throughout its 50 offices in 11 countries and five continents.

This seminar will be highly technical in nature and will be spoken in English with a Japanese summary at the end of each segment.

Date:　Friday, March 7^th, 2025, 9:30AM – 12:00AM, The event is in person only.

Location:  Artience, 29^th Floor, Edo Grand Building, 2-1, Kyobashi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8377

Tickets: https://tsbdrimon.peatix.com

Cost: Free

Organizers: RIMON, P.C., TSBD, Artience

Target audience: Major corporation’s legal officers, including those in the international trade, import/export controls and intellectual property divisions.

Program

Segment 1:  Tariffs and International Trade Under the New Trump Administration

Speaker:  Sandra L. Bell, Partner, Rimon, P.C.

Biography:  Sandra represents clients on regulatory procedures relating to customs tariff and import issues including securing and responding to decisions on prospective and current import transactions, international trade policy and regulatory programs, and border security and trade enforcement programs.

Ms. Bell has over three decades of customs, international trade and border security experience at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) where she held several positions most recently, as Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Office of International Trade (OT) and as Executive Director of Regulations and Rulings, OT. In the aftermath of 9/11, Ms. Bell also served as Acting Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Deputy Assistant Commissioner and Acting Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Regulations and Rulings, where she spearheaded development of programs to improve delivery of services in international trade regulatory programs that enhanced border security and trade enforcement, such as the Customs On line Rulings Search System (CROSS), the online IPR recordation system (IPRS) and the advance electronic transmission of cargo security (Trade Act) and passenger information (APIS). During this crucial time in US history, Ms. Bell led the development of watershed decisions, national policies, regulations, training and outreach programs that effected transition of the agency into a new legal and cultural environment.

Presentation Topics:  Sandra will discuss the following –

1. Recent Actions: 2025 Executive Orders on Tariffs
2. Extra tariffs and continuing escalating trade remedies duties (e.g., antidumping and countervailing duties) = need for importer strategies to reduce the impact of these tariffs and their related financial exposure.
3. Five Strategies to Minimize Duty Exposure
   1. Tariff Classification strategies
   2. Alternative Importation strategies
   3. Import Valuation planning strategies
   4. Country-of-Origin Strategies
   5. Drawback strategies

Segment 2:  CFIUS Under the New Trump Administration

Speakers:  Ivan Komaritsky, Counsel & Mi-Yong Kim, Partner, both of Rimon, P.C.

Biography:  Ivan is a regulatory compliance, corporate crime and litigation attorney advising Rimon clients across diverse industries, including pharmaceuticals, digital technology, and energy, on Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regulations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance, and U.S. economic sanctions (OFAC). Ivan develops and implements compliance programs and conducts high-stakes due diligence for mergers and acquisitions and Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) transactions.

By way of example, Ivan’s CFIUS representative matters include:

• Assessment of CFIUS jurisdiction in the context of acquisitions of US businesses and real estate by foreign investors and sovereign funds
• Guided clients including but not limited to Russian venture capital fund, Israeli renewable power generation company, Chinese automaker regarding CFIUS implications of investments in U.S.
• Prepared voluntary disclosures and mandatory declarations to CFIUS for renewable energy, aerospace, aviation, financial and engineering services companies
• Represented clients in CFIUS mitigation measures, including negotiations of the National Security Agreement for solar energy manufacturer

Biography:  Mi-Yong has approximately 30 years of experience related to U.S. export controls and national security laws while in the U.S. Government and in private practice. She spent most of her career in the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce in multiple senior level positions. Based on her expertise gained through her long-term government service, she has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the decision-making process of the U.S. Government related to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR); the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR); and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Presentation Topics:  Ivan and Mi-Yong will discuss the following topics –

1. Current trends in voluntary filings to CFIUS (Ivan)
2. Reverse CFIUS Rule/ Outbound investment regulations (Ivan)
3. Scope of CFIUS reviews under Trump administration (Ivan/Mi-Yong)
4. Changes to U.S. Export controls  (Mi-Yong)

Segment 3:  Intellectual Property Under the New Trump Administration

Speaker:  Eric D. Kirsch, Partner, Rimon, P.C.

Biography:  Eric Kirsch is an Intellectual Property Attorney who has been practicing law for the past 35 years; 14 of those years in Tokyo.  As the former Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Nikon for 10 years, Eric is both an IP litigator, a licensing attorney, and a strategic intellectual property adviser for public and private companies. For the past 4 years in a row, Eric was recognized as on the top 300 Intellectual Property Practitioners by IAM.

Eric frequently represents companies:

• In intellectual property disputes, including disputes in courts and arbitration matters;
• In developing strategic IP assets to protect new businesses;
• In fostering IP ecosystems for businesses and universities to create high value IP assets; and
• In formulating strategies to monetize unused IP assets.

Presentation Topics:  Eric will discuss the following topics –

1. Patent and USPTO Reform: several bills are pending in Congress that would modify the patentability of certain aspects of AI, invalidity proceedings in the USPTO, and the patentability/§101 defense in patent litigation.
2. AI Deregulation: Trump’s revocation of Biden’s Executive Order on AI and further deregulation efforts.
3. Federal Trade Commission/International Trade Commission: Trump may further investigate Chinese Trade Practices, including IP theft, to determine whether any of those trade practices are unfair.

Segment 4:  Innovation Road to Revenue: Innovation Business Development Methodology from Strategy to Actual Revenue Generation

Speaker:  Tom Sato, Principal, TSBD

Biography:  Mr. Tom Sato was the Microsoft Windows Product Manager responsible for initially licensing Windows to all PC makers in Japan. He started an e-commerce startup in Silicon Valley and successfully raised up to Series D funding. Founded Tokyo IPO Financial Information Portal and brought about the IPO boom in Japan. He has developed overseas cyber security startups in Japan and currently serves as a strategic advisor to three startups in the U.S.

Presentation Topics:  Mr. Sato will discuss the following topics –

1. Reduce the risk of each innovation and increase the chance of success by having an organization and strategy that handles multiple innovations.
2. Implement a business system from strategy to sales that is within the scope of the existing organization.
3. Create a system that does not let failed innovations affect your performance by selling 10 innovations and achieving great success with 2 of them.
4. Standardize and simplify each process from strategy planning to sales, so that multiple innovations can be sold in a streamlined process.

About Rimon PC

Rimon is a full service elite law firm with over 200 attorneys in 50 offices globally.

We represent sophisticated clients including companies, investors, family offices, high net worth individuals, government agencies and non-profit organizations in relation to their complex transactions and disputes. Our high quality, tailored services enable us to deliver exceptional results to our clients.

Rimon has modernized the practice of law. Our bespoke model allows us to offer exceptional level services to clients at rates which are very competitive, but without compromising quality.